dights Studios). -

Jeff to find out more.)

‘errace: Minor Baseball has asked count to approve e plant
ao develop up to eight ball diamonds on vacant land between:
“North Eby St..and. Gair Ave. (immediately behind Northern A

ah. However, the propdsal: has prompted” a ‘neighbourhood.

| resident to object. What makes this objection alittle different.
“is, it comes from a nine-year-old...-  -") .

», Jeff Bolingbroke’s letter (bottom tight) opposing the

1° development was read out at a recent.council meeting. - .

__ Intrigued, Malcolm Baxter of The. ‘Terrace Standard visited, op.

ro “TERRACE — “Arrival at Jeff
\ - Bolingbroke’s Gair Ave. home
yo ‘finds him ready and eager to
all _ show you just what it is he is
! ‘trying to save and why it’s so
i. > ‘important to him and ~his
friends.

Jeff has dpparently been
thorough in preparing his case.

-entire.area the previous evening,
‘carefully mapping out the route
we.will take-so nothing of i im-
portance is missed. °

In no time we are out the
door and striding purposefully
down the street on the: beginn-
ing of a half hour walkabout.

well-worn trails winding
_ through stands of young trees,
- pass ‘open, heath-like areas and
enter the darkness beneath long-
established, second growth
trees.
Throughout, Jeff points out

—t

- Jett Bolingbroke | 7

the, kind of. features .an adult
would walk by without even
noticing, the things that make
this a special place for this and
other youngsters in the
neighbourhood.

There’s the pit, a five feet
deep, six feet across hole in the
ground. "There are four ways
in and out of here,"” he ex-
plains, ‘‘But my favourite is this
one,” he adds, leaping out to
grasp the lowest branch of an
: alder growing out of the hole
and: swing out almost horizon-
tally ‘before letting himself

TERRACE — Terrace Minor
’ +: Baseball's (TMB) plans for a
‘mew ball park on the bench
would eventually see cight
diamonds. constructed on city
:Jand at the end of North Eby:St.
“and adjacent school district pro-

. perty. : 7
Initially, only’ two or three
fields: -and~ accompanying
‘washrooms would be built on

being increased to five at a later

- " ypurchasing the. school district
- lot, ithat would eventually be the
Bite for. the final three fields.

witht: «pitching: mounds ‘and
‘regulation © fence..distance for
‘basebal , not softball,

From there, it’s on to the
“climbing tree, -aglant in the
“midst of young :pines, its well-
spaced “branches, offering an ].
- easy route skyward, He says a.

His+mother says he walked the .

“high anthills swarming with in-

During that time, we tramp .

_ goes there.”

Plan envisages ©
eight diamonds .

the city land with that number . .
He. said residents had until © ©
date, ‘If the: city succeeded in-.

i All-diamonds would be built

. Vices committee and’ the’ ap-

drop. ae et

favourite. game here is to edge
out along its strongest branches
— “You have to walk lightly’
— grab the top of a nearby pine .
and: then. shin: down : to the
ground. ©

- And then there's the fascina-
tion ‘of the two- and three feet

dustrious insects, the open area
which in summer is thick with
tall’ ferns: — a perfect refuge
during games of hide-and-seek
—and the second growth stand,
called ': the. “peaceful
place., -because hardly anyone

Of course, every Eden has its
serpent and for Jeff and his
friends it’s the dirtbikers who
frequently roar dow the trails.
“They don’t even stop, you jim
have to jump out of their way,”
he says.” ,

But in the end, not even the
thoughtlessness: of these
trailhogs can diminish the kids’
love of this haunt.“

For to take Jeff's guided t tour
of his special places i is to take a
step back in time, .to be remind- .
ed of the secret places of one’s
own childhood and the wonder- ae. = Ren =
ment and joy that were to be
found in the simplest:things. ~ FACING THE AXE? Nine-year-old Jeff Bolingbroke and his friends fear this favourite climbing tree

Of course, none of the above might be lost to them if plans to construct baseball diamonds on land between North Eby and Gair are
detracts from: Terrace Minor. approved by the city. So, Jeff decided to do something about it — he wrote a letter to council (below)
Baseball's case the city, and the explaining why the area is important to ther and asking ‘the development not go ahead.
bench area in. particular, needs
more ball diamonds. *

‘Look at the number of people
living up there; the: lack :ofiany. -
such facility inthe area-and: it’s - -
not hard to see’ they, ‘have: , AN
point. — Ge

It's also inevitable. the. com: Me, ae
munity will continue to growin.
the future and,. as it. does; =
special places like Jeff's must HOU AS -
eventually succumb to develop. OS oN On ee
ment. re an ;

‘The shame is that in'any such fet
conflict there has to be a ey
“toser’’.

But whatever the outcome
this time, thanks Jeff. --.

It was a real pleasuret

heavy use of existing diamonds
at Eiks Park — there are.four -
there — by both minor baseball...
and softball made: development
of a new park necessary: |

- Recreation ::director. ‘Steve
Scott told council last week the.
city had as yet made no commit

ment to TMB: on its proposal
and his department was.in the
midst. of a survey to. gauge
neighbourhood ‘reaction to It, °:

April 20'to ‘make. their views. -
known at which time the results:
would be tabulated anda report
made to council on the results; 7"
~ Council decided-to refer‘ Jef. ae
frey Bolingbroke’s letter to its --
Community and Recreation. ser- :

propriate advisory comimisslon,.

By PETER DENNIS.
Peter Dennis isa student ai

tee first nations,"! a

a sv ‘to. mother. earth
g i a fish ihe

Time to get tough al about the land

en Ter time. ago. 56 oatives,
known. today: as:‘'the

Tt wasn't, important - = me
didn't : sneed to: know. We °

provincial. government will i t parts of this with the predator.’always that! we may preserve what
- Glaborate on: job. creation, are /n most pa of this wot dur and waiting for an little we shave Teh fo the }
but-never.‘on haw-imuch'this - Province and country. king Or an .

procs, is. owen and.
> Nenmined.. iaued

destroying anything. * Port Simpson is overwhelst- the information I’ve of the first nations and many .
- We, the people of the fiat. jng. What was once a gathered from time it was _ other people of. British Col-

nations,’ are-a vital part of, beautiful hill full of green’ - ‘clear cut up until now. umbia to take and plunge

the land and still are in most’... trees is now a hill full of - -< Being a forest. worker for . and: rock ‘the provincial
‘ parta of thia- province and  gtumps, The same goes for - “three years, I have a good government's boat so it may

gtip:on- mismanaged recognize the problem could

reforestation procedures, ik a rie into aor over.

i A Land - preservation is in’ . whelming ‘an ‘ond its
““vinclal government lin't very - | We, the people of Tre. question in many parts’of contro.»

 convinéing ‘about land. first nations, are a vital. this province and country, © Preservationists should get
preservation, You see,. the. ~- part of the land and stile: <- t's like a predator, and prey, tougher and tighten up so

“COUNETY. =: Gs ns “the other side of the hill, it's :
But: there is a. deviation. i devestating. :
What I mean is that the pro-

a4

opportunity to fam, ‘at: any

‘Reforestation in Por

impson {s not up to par, restate virgin tal lat re oe for
nfortunate 80," OUF: ce. A good time to
“know this for a fact, fro! op! rewoisld be right now. |

what 1 have seen and -frot

a -Tomrace Standart, Wednesday, Apil 17, 1901 ~ = Page AS

LETTERS

: = THE TERRACE STANDARD

‘| day. He was on crutches

Pwriter. All letters are run-on
~Ja-space available. basis,’

“Access
problem

Dear Sir: |

Yesterday- was my first
visit to .Mount Layton
Hotsprings. I decided to use
my wheelchair because. the
facility is‘so large and my
mobility is not so great.

There is a wheelchair ramp
but, unfortunately, there is
no handicapped parking
space. So the ramp isn’t of
much’ value because parked
cars block the access to it.

I was with a friend and she
parked my car in the parking
spot closest to the door so I
wouldn’t have far to walk to
get into the building. And
while she was getting the
wheelchair out for me (in
order to push it up the two
steps in to the building) the
general manager: drove up.
Unfortunately, we had park-
ed in his reserved space.

So my friend pointed out
my mobility problem and the |
inaccessibility of . the
wheelchair . - ramp.
Nonetheless, he wanted his
parking - space. But
gentleman(?) that he was, he
agreed to let my friend
unload the wheelchair just so
long as she'd move the car as
soon as it was unloaded.

And now I wonder if a
wheelchair ramp was only
built to comply with a
building code. Hmmmmm?

Joy Lennox,
Terrace, B.C,

Editor's note; In reply,
Mount Layion Hotsprings
manager Harry Rosenbrack
says there is a handicapped
parking space. it’s on the
other side of the ramp from
ihe space reserved for the
. manager and on the day in
question was already ac-
cupied.

Mr. Rosenbrock also. says
he-wasn’t very mobile that

Pee ee ee ee

because of a torn ligament in
his right knee.

About
layofts.

Dear Sir:

On March 28, it was stated
on.the BCTV news that 33
sawmills closed in the State
of Washington. Four thou-
sand loggers in the City of
Aberdeen alone were laid
off.

The IWA spokesman
stated 20,000 loggers' jobs
were lost in the State of
Washington.

These sawmills did not
create shutdowns and lay
offs. because of economics
but ‘because of the spotted
owls and the conserva-
tionists. The lay offs are not
temporary but permanent.
After 20 years in the woods,

- About
letters

The Terrace Standard
welcomes letters to the editor
on all topics. All letters must
be signed and carry an ad-
dress: and local telephone
number. Addresses or phone
numbers won't be printed
with the letter, but they are
necessary for confirmation
of the letter’s authenticity
The writer's name will be
published. Requests for
names to be withheld may be
pranted in extraordinary cir.
cumstances. -

“Thank: you Ietters should
be submitted to the ‘*Card of
Thanks’ . section of the
classifieds.

Letters containing libelous
or objectionable matter will
be edited or returned to. the

with:

shorter - ‘letters: likely t

wee pum cee Bee we, beh Mabe ee